


In Which Calvin Klein Inadvertently Causes A Gay Panic

by allsassnoclass (brightblackholes)



Category: One Direction (Band), Shawn Mendes (Musician)
Genre: M/M, Mention of Larry, Shawn's Calvin Klein photo shoot, mention of past ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 01:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17909363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightblackholes/pseuds/allsassnoclass
Summary: The thing is, Niall has always considered himself the token straight member of One Direction, but he feels like he really shouldn't be looking at his best friend's thighs like that.





	In Which Calvin Klein Inadvertently Causes A Gay Panic

**Author's Note:**

> While the characters and situations are based off of real people, I have fictionalized them and in no way intend to reflect thoughts, views, relationships, or actions of these people. In this story, they are characters and nothing more.

Niall is scrolling through twitter on a fake account he created for moments just like this when he first sees Shawn’s Calvin Klein photos. He remembers Shawn calling him about the deal a while ago, nervous and excited at the same time.

_“I’m only going to have the underwear on, otherwise it’s all skin.  PR is equally worried and excited about how this could affect my brand.”_

_Niall had laughed, almost choking on the potatoes he had just taken a bite of.  He liked when Shawn called while he was eating dinner. It made meals less lonely when he was in his house._

_“Mate, you’ll always be a sweet, innocent, sunshine boy to everyone.  The tattoos didn’t change that, and the piercing didn’t change that. That’s not going to be destroyed with just a few pictures.”_

_“Almost Naked Pictures, Niall,” Shawn said seriously, then giggled.  “You’re right. I shouldn’t be worried, right? Just because I’m legally old enough to be a sex symbol doesn’t mean that one photoshoot will turn me into one and everyone will forget about my music, right?”_

_“No one could ever forget about your music.  It plays on the radio all the time,” Niall said.  “Besides, as hot as all the girls find you, it can’t be that drastic.  Don’t be dramatic.”_

Niall may be the one being dramatic now, but _holy crap_.

The thing is, Niall has always considered himself the token straight member of One Direction.  With Harry and Louis being _HarryandLouis_ basically from day one, obviously neither of those two were straight.  Liam and Zayn both insisted that they had no interest in boys, but then Niall once walked in on them kissing and they had to sheepishly admit that they were both figuring some things out, so they were off the table, too.

Niall figured at least _one_ member of the boyband had to be straight, since it was expected that they all were, and it seemed like he was the only one left to fill that slot.  Besides, 5th wheeling because you aren’t sexually compatible with the other four wheels is different than fifth wheeling because the other four wheels are soulmates and you get to be on the outside sexually frustrated.

It’s not like he never got a bit _curious_.  He’d thought about what it’d be like to be with another man quite a few times, maybe even fantasized a bit.  Some dreams popped up here and there, but that’s to be expected when you spend your life surrounded by four other attractive boys and other very good looking celebrities.  Of course, when the four boys are your brothers it’s impossible to think of them in a romantic light.

Niall has seen all of them naked, and he’s also seen all of them do horribly embarrassing and gross things.  There is no way he could ever be romantically or sexually attracted to Louis, Harry, Liam, or Zayn, no matter how pretty Zayn’s eyelashes might be or how lovely Liam’s voice is or how sweet Harry’s smile is or how bright Louis’ laugh is.

He really had thought that Shawn was going to go in a similar boat, but this…

Niall shifts uncomfortably in his chair and feels like he really shouldn’t be looking at his best friend’s thighs like this.

Shawn is hot.  Niall already knew this, because he has eyes and Shawn is his best friend.  Objectively, he’s very nice to look at, and there is nothing wrong with recognizing it.  That does not mean that he’s prepared to handle pictures of him when he’s just wearing underwear.  Every line of muscle is on display, and Niall wants to run his hands over all of them.

He panics, so he does the first thing he can think of and calls Liam.

“Hi Niall, what’s going on?” Liam asks after the second ring. 

“I thought I was the token straight member of One Direction but Shawn is really hot and I don’t know what to do about it,” he blurts.

“Oh,” Liam says, then there’s some shifting on the other side of the phone.  “Straight into it, then.”

“He’s my best mate, Liam.  I mean, I know that sometimes--I mean, when we were--I was always a bit curious maybe, but…”

He trails off and holds his breath.

“Niall,” Liam says after a pause, “I don’t know if this is going to help or hurt in this instance, but I was always under the impression that none of us were straight.”

Niall groans and buries his face into the couch armrest.  Maybe he can take one of the decorative pillows he bought for no reason and suffocate himself. 

“It’s not a bad thing,” Liam is saying over the phone.  “All things considered, there are worse time periods and countries to live in, and you’re not under Modest anymore, so you won’t have to go through all of the stuff we did.”

“Hold on,” he says, sitting straight up again.  “Nothing is going to happen, Liam. I just think he’s attractive, is all.  You’re allowed to think your friends are attractive.” 

“Maybe, but seeing me in underwear never sent you into a sexuality crisis.  If all that attraction entailed was physical good looks, there would have been a lot more drooling over Zayn from all members of One Direction, not just me.”

“But then I got to know you guys.  You’re like brothers to me.”

“Why isn’t Shawn like a brother to you?”

There’s silence.

Dimly, Niall wonders if the faucet in his kitchen is dripping, or if the sound of rushing water is all in his ears.

“Holy shit, I’m in love with Shawn.  Liam, I’m in love with my best mate!”

“Calm down,” Liam says dimly, but Niall ignores him.

“You’re not supposed to fall in love with your best mate!  This could ruin everything!”

“Why?” Liam asks.  “Harry and Louis are each other’s best mates and one of the most stable relationships I’ve seen, especially taking everything they’ve been through into account.  Zayn and I were best mates when we started.”

“Yes, but look at you now!” 

There’s silence, and Niall thinks that might have been a low blow.

“Liam, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--”

“It’s fine,” Liam says curtly.  “But you’re wrong. There were a lot of things that had to do with me and Zayn being the way we are now, things that you and Shawn wouldn’t have to deal with.  We’re not an example of a usual progression of friends to lovers to...this.”

Niall sighs.  He hates when any of the lads are upset with him. 

“I just… I can’t take that chance.  Even if he likes me as well, there’s so many things that could go wrong.”

“Oh, he definitely likes you as well.  You should see the way he looks at you and talks about you when you’re not paying attention.  There’s a whole bunch of friendly love, but there’s also a whole bunch of something else.”

This makes Niall pause because he hadn’t really considered…

Shawn told Niall he was gay the first night he came over to his house.  It was awesome, because they got along so naturally and Niall was happy to have already gained a high amount of trust.  He remembers that Shawn’s eyes looked a bit like stars, and the tension from that week had left his shoulders by the first 5 minutes they were alone together.

Still, with all of that, he wasn’t even aware that he was falling in love.  To think that Shawn might have been falling too…

“Niall?” Liam asks, and Niall realizes that he had been quiet for a bit too long.

“Sorry.  I just didn’t realize…” He trailed off.

“I think you might need to talk to Shawn.”

“Liam--”

“You don’t have to confess your undying love for him,” Liam says loudly before returning to a normal volume, “but maybe it’s a good idea to just talk for a bit.  Assess the situation as you’re interacting with him to get confirmation. Put a bit of flirting in there if you’re feeling brave.”

“What should I say, then?”

“You’ll think of something.  Ask him how his day was. Ask him how the underwear shoot went.  I’m sure you have something to talk to him about.”

Liam isn’t wrong.  He had been planning on calling Shawn later anyway, especially since they’re trying to coordinate a time to see each other again.

“Okay.  Thanks, Li.  You’re good at this, you know?”

“Glad I could help.  It’s good to hear from you, you know?  It’s been a while.”

Niall feels himself smile.

“I miss you, too,” he says, and Liam huffs a chuckle.

“Okay, now go talk to your boy.  Tell him I say hi if you remember to.”

“Will do.  Let’s get dinner sometime, yea?” 

“I’d like that.  Now stop drawing this out and just call him.  I’ll ask you how it went later. Bye!”

Liam hangs up before Niall can even try to say he hadn’t been attempting to lengthen their conversation and buy himself some time. 

It’s not like he has to call Shawn right then.  He can put it off for an hour or two, maybe, clear his head a bit first.

He opens twitter, sees a picture of Shawn in underwear with all that skin, and has the phone pressed against his ear with Shawn’s number dialed before he can even process that he’s done it.

“Hey Niall!  What’s up?” Shawn asks.  Niall can tell by his voice that he’s smiling.

“You basically naked all over Twitter is what’s up.”

“Oh, yeah,” Shawn chuckles.  “The Calvin Klein shoot came out today.  I’ve been too nervous to look at the reactions to it.”

“Don’t be,” Niall says.  “Everyone loves it. Now you’re cute _and_ undeniably sexy.  Perfectly appealing to every demographic.”

“You think I’m undeniably sexy?” Shawn asks.  Niall nearly swallows his tongue.

“I have eyes, mate,” he manages to say. 

“Thanks,” Shawn laughs.  “That means a lot, coming from you.”

“That I have eyes?”

“That… that you think I’m sexy.”

Shawn’s voice has dimmed a bit, and the conversation suddenly feels heavier.

“Well, you are,” he says after a moment.  Shawn clears his throat and starts to speak, but Niall can’t hear him over the rushing in his ears and ends up blurting--

“I really tried to convince myself I was straight until I saw your pictures this morning!”

Shawn falls silent on the other end.

“What?” he asks, and his voice cracks.  Niall takes a deep breath. He hadn’t meant to say anything, but now that it’s out there he can’t exactly take it back.

“I just.  My whole life I assumed I was straight.  Even when I was in One Direction and the other four started pairing off, I told myself that _someone_ in the band had to be straight, so I ignored any indication otherwise, but then I saw those pictures and had a big gay panic and called Liam and basically figured out that I’m a bit in love with you.”

All things considered, that’s a more articulated explanation that he had been expecting.  Sometimes he surprises himself.

Shawn is silent, and Niall starts to panic.

“Sorry, know that’s a lot to throw on you and I’m not expecting anything out of it honestly don’t know why I said it to be honest it just came out like me I guess _ohmygoshShawnIjustcameoutbytellingyouIloveyou_.”

Niall buries his face in the side of the couch and again contemplates suffocation via decorative pillow.

“Niall?” Shawn asks, or at least Niall thinks he does.  Only half of the word comes out. Then, he clears his throat and tries again.  “Niall?”

“Sorry,” Niall says.

“No it’s just-- Are you sure?” Shawn asks.  He sound small and young, and that more than anything makes Niall pause and think.

The thing is, Niall isn’t lying when he says that Shawn is his best friend.  It’s ridiculously easy to enjoy himself as long as Shawn is there, regardless of what they’re doing.  It’s impossible not to. Niall sees Shawn and automatically smiles. That’s just how it is. He’s immensely fun to be around, and always knows what to say.  His voice is amazing, and he’s got a knack for songwriting that Niall is dying to tap into if they can stop getting distracted when they get their guitars out and actually write something.  He’s one of the most genuinely nice and polite people Niall has ever met.

Shawn is just… he’s the best.  His laugh is Niall’s favorite sound, and his smile put any pretty descriptor to shame.  When they’re together, all Niall really wants to do is get closer.

How had he never noticed until now?

“Yeah,” he says.  “I’m sure.”

“Oh,” says Shawn.  “Well, I’m in love with you, too.  I have been for a while.”

“Oh.”

Niall pauses, then processes what Shawn actually said.

“Oh!  Really?  You serious?”

“Yeah,” Shawn says, and then he laughs.  Niall finds himself grinning involuntarily. 

“Well that’s good,” he says.  “Was really hoping I hadn’t messed everything up there.”

“You didn’t,” Shawn replies, then laughs again.  It’s wonderful. “Sorry, I’m just really happy.”

“Don’t apologize!  I’m happy, too.”

“Great,” Shawn says.

“Great,” Niall replies.

“Where does that leave us, then?” Shawn asks after a moment.

“Tell you what,” Niall says.  “How about when we next see each other, we make it a date?  Then we can go from there.”

“I’d like that,” Shawn says.  “I’d like that a lot.”

Niall smiles and starts making plans.

 

-//-

 

The next time Niall sees Shawn, he goes in for a hug immediately, like usual, but stays there for a second longer.  Shawn sighs and relaxes against him, and Niall again wonders how he didn’t realize earlier.

“Hi,” he says when he pulls back.

“Hi,” Shawn replies, his smile splitting his face in half.  Niall grins back and takes Shawn’s hand. Shawn, if possible, looks even more delighted, and it feels like the beginning of something awesome.

“You should do photoshoots for Calvin Klein more often if this is the end result,” Niall says.  Shawn laughs, and Niall starts to lead him to their first date of many.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
